Date:05/06/2006 URL: http://www.thehindubusinessline.com/2006/06/05/stories/2006060500330601.htm

Back Malacca Straits still risky for insurers

Lloyd's Market Association Joint War Committee (JWC) has rejected calls to remove the Malacca Strait from its war and terrorism listing as the waterway has been assessed to "exceed a benchmark of risk aggregation factors", according Malaysia's Star newspaper.

The JWC recently removed the Port of Algiers from the list but added Yemen and Sri Lanka to it. The listing means higher insurance payments for cargo moving through the area. Malaysia, Indonesia and Singapore are upset at it as the three governments have been working together to make the strait safe. But the international insurance companies are not convinced. The Lloyd's JWC, therefore, is helpless. After all it is a business decision by people who pay the price when the mishap occurs.

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